K'eyush
by GillyflowerCalfuray
Summary: Quick one-shot about how Canada met Kumajiro and how the two became friends.


**Yes, since I was bored, I decided to write up a little one-shot about how Canada met Kumajiro, and how they became friends.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Hetalia,_ and all Inuit names and deities are real. I got the names off a site, going by similarity to the original names and definition.**

* * *

It was dark and cold, a usual night in a country which contained part of the Arctic Circle. A tiny seal-oil lamp flickered on the ground, making shadows jump to life on the walls of the sealskin tent.

A young boy sat huddled in a caribou skin sleeping sack, staring at the flame. He was tiny, his head barely reaching the top of the village elder's knee. He knew he was smaller than the other children were, but it did not bother him. Even his name, Masaaraq, meant a small ice floe which was too small to stand on. His coloring did not bother him either. He was as pale as the snow outside his tent, with hair the color of the sun. Everyone accepted him, for little did they know that this boy was the representation of the country of Canada.

He was waiting for the hunters to return from the sea. They were going to bring back seal, fish, and a whale if they were lucky and Sedna, goddess of the sea, was generous.

Sedna determined whether the sea creatures would come to sustain the Inuit peoples. She is very temperamental, and each tribe's shaman must descend through many terrifying places to soothe her. The route is very dangerous, but shamans must brave it or else their tribe will starve. The shamans have to pass through countless dead souls, an abyss where an icy wheel turns slowly and perpetually, then past a cauldron full of boiling seals, and finally past the horrible dog that guards the knife-thin passageway into her home. When shamans visit her, they massage Sedna's aching limbs and comb her hair. Only when she is properly comforted will Sedna permit the shaman to return to the people and inform them that she will send the animals to be hunted so that they will not face starvation.

* * *

The barking of dogs signaled the return of the hunters. The dogs pulled sleds, and were straining under their load. Masaaraq quickly dressed in his parka and boots, and ran out to meet them, shouting and waving his arms.

"We have been blessed!" One of the hunters shouted, stopping his sled and releasing his dogs. "We have caught many seals."

That meant food, oil for lamps, and skins for clothing. A good catch indeed. Masaaraq went to a sled and started trying to unload it, but failed, for the seals were bigger than he was.

"Masaaraq, come here." Another hunter, Kattituyok, said. Masaaraq went to him immediately, noticing that he had nothing tied to his sled. Masaaraq looked up to see that Kattituyok had something bundled under his parka. He extracted the object, revealing it to be a baby polar bear. "Masaaraq, I found this cub before I went to hunt. He had been abandoned." He handed the cub to the small boy. "Normally, I would have killed this cub so that it did not grow and steal our prey. But, I felt something special in him. The mark of Torngasak is upon him, as it is in you. So, I have rescued him and taken him here for you to raise."

Masaaraq tightly gripped the cub in his arms, immediately feeling a connection with it. "I'll take care of him, I promise."

"What will you name him?"

"I'll name him K'eyush, because that's what he is. A polar bear cub."

"Good. If you respect and care for him, he will be the closest companion you will ever have."

"I will!" Masaaraq brought K'eyush back to his tent to warm him up and give him something to eat. He had a few strips of dried seal meat stashed away as a treat, but willingly sacrificed them to revive the cub. The cub sniffed weakly at the meat, its little mouth barely opening to receive the treat. Masaaraq fed him patiently, until all the meat was gone and the cub had sat up.

And then, to his surprise, the cub spoke. "Who are you?"

He was startled. "My name is Masaaraq. I'm going to call you K'eyush, and I'm going to take care of you from now on."

He blinked. "Okay."

**The End**


End file.
